Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Florida Has Giant Spiders

This morning, as I was minding my own business in the garage, I came upon what has to be the largest Wolf Spider I've ever seen. Its body was at least two inches long and from the look of things it had been eating quite well in the murky darkness, as there were lots of hollowed out insect carcasses laying around the immediate vicinity of this enormous arachnid. My guess is that this is a Rabid Wolf Spider (Lycosa rabida) but will patiently await the scrutiny of my panel of experts out there in cyberspace.

According to the Audubon Field Guide To Insects & Spiders: "This species is harmless to people, but its bite is often feared----hence its common name. According to a legend, the only way to save a victim bitten by the related European Tarantula is to dance the tarantella."

In other words you'd better watch where you're walking when it's summertime in Florida.


(Lycosa rabida)